Is God Is

Summary

Pop Culture Happy Hour: "Is God Is"

Date: May 20, 2026
Hosts & Guests: Aisha Harris (host), Ba Parker (NPR’s Code Switch), Soraya Nadia McDonald (culture critic, The Rumpus)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on Is God Is, the striking feature debut of playwright Aleshea Harris, now adapted from her acclaimed Off Broadway play. The hosts and guests discuss the film’s exploration of Black sisterhood, intergenerational trauma, Black feminine rage, and genre-bending storytelling. They offer detailed reactions to how Harris’s work sits alongside classics like The Color Purple and Thelma & Louise, dissecting its cinematic style, performances, and cultural resonance as both an artwork and a timely social statement.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Film Background and Premise [03:13]

• Plot Summary: Twin sisters Racine (Kara Young) and Anaia (Mallory Johnson), scarred by a violent childhood trauma inflicted by their father (Sterling K. Brown), are summoned by their dying mother (Vivica A. Fox) to take revenge.
• Cultural Taglines: The film is described as a blend of The Color Purple’s sisterhood and Thelma & Louise’s road trip vengeance, with stylistic flavors reminiscent of Scott Pilgrim and “Afropunk spaghetti western” cinema.

Adaptation from Play to Screen [03:53–09:31]

• Ba Parker: Praises the adaptation’s vividness and cleverness, singling out how the film retains its theatrical origins by projecting actual lines from the script as captions and in on-screen dialogue.

  “If you read the play, you’re like, I don’t even know how this was on a stage. So the fact that it is on my screen and it pops...all this bright music, the performances...” (Ba Parker, 04:19)

• Soraya Nadia McDonald: Notes Aleshea Harris’s remarkable fluidity moving between theater and film, with dynamic camerawork that escapes the “static” pitfalls common in such transitions.

  “She moves between them...with a lot of ease that sometimes escapes playwrights, especially when they are moving from working on stage work to the screen.” (Soraya, 06:27)

• Teleplay-to-Film Comparisons: The team credits Harris’s bold cinematic choices, referencing George C. Wolfe’s more static adaptations as instructive counterpoints.

Performance Highlights [05:11–05:53; 19:17–19:48]

• Kara Young (Racine) is repeatedly praised for her dynamic presence and ability to embody “the rough one...scrappy and captivating.”

  “Kara is booked and busy...she’s so dynamic and so captivating, like from her voice and the way that she comes across.” (Ba Parker, 05:19)

• Sterling K. Brown’s casting as the father is called “diabolical and smart” because it subverts his wholesome TV persona.

  “One of the things she told me about casting Sterling was that it was a little diabolical because she knew that he existed in the culture as this very, like, standup, hyper, competent, loving man.” (Soraya, 13:58)

• Brown’s performance includes nuanced choices—a softer, higher-pitched voice—that accentuate the character’s unsettling mix of pathos and menace.

Themes: Black Feminine Rage, Sisterhood, and Complicity [09:31–18:07]

• Feminine Rage: Everyone lauds the film’s depiction of Black feminine anger and its refusal to sanitize or pathologize it (as mainstream media often does).

  “Black feminine rage is something that is not always showcased in media, or respected, or supported.” (Ba Parker, 09:32)
  “I disagree slightly...the media has no problem presenting black female rage. But it’s often in service of supporting ideas about black femininity as being animalistic, as being irrational...this is a movie where these women have every right to be angry.” (Aisha, 12:07)

• Complicity: The narrative’s complexity extends to how women enable abusers, most notably through Janelle Monáe’s character (the father’s current wife) and Erika Alexander’s role as another complicit woman.

  “It’s not just about them seeking revenge, but also about the ways people, not just men, but women, sort of support these men and offer cover.” (Aisha, 13:27)

• Endurance and Resonance: Hosts discuss real-world violence against Black women, connecting the film’s urgency and relevance to ongoing news stories.

Film’s Look, Style, and Cultural References [07:41–08:33; 17:11–17:57]

• The film embraces both its stage roots and cinematic reach, using theatrical devices (on-screen text, flashbacks) while taking advantage of “the sprawl” of Southern locales.
• Strong visual/musical style—wardrobe choices like box braids, crop tops, and 90s Tommy Hilfiger signal genre-blending and cultural specificity.
• Harris draws on iconic pop culture (e.g., O Brother, Where Art Thou?, Kill Bill), sometimes playfully critiquing Tarantino's sensibilities.

Industry Significance and First-Time Filmmaker Celebration [17:11–18:07]

• The hosts repeatedly stress the rarity and importance of a debut, Black female-directed movie getting theatrical release and this level of backing.

  “The fact that this film got made is a miracle. Yes. We’re currently in a film drought when it comes to, like, good cinema. The fact that we are here with, like, an original black female idea on screen...” (Ba Parker, 16:47)
  “It’s not being like, Tyler Perry Presents... It should not feel like such a novelty.” (Ba Parker, 17:33, 17:58)

Ending and Narrative Satisfaction [19:48–21:40]

• There is some disagreement about whether the film’s final act provides enough closure or catharsis, with more ambiguity and heartbreak than complete satisfaction.

  “I did feel as though some things were left unsaid, unfinished...But at the same time, there is something sort of poetic about a revenge narrative that doesn’t necessarily satisfy in a way you would hope it would.” (Aisha, 20:10)

• The ending of the play and the movie differ slightly, with the play’s ending considered by some as more “full circle.”

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Play-to-Film Adaptation:
  “If you read the play...I don’t even know how this was on a stage. So the fact that it is on my screen, and it pops...”
  — Ba Parker, 04:19
• On Kara Young’s Performance:
  “She’s so dynamic and so captivating...she’s described as the rough one. She’s scrappy.”
  — Ba Parker, 05:19 & Aisha Harris, 05:33
• On Black Women’s Rage:
  “Black feminine rage is something that is not always showcased in media, or respected.”
  — Ba Parker, 09:32 “Because people are afraid of us...because they know we have a lot to be angry about.”
  — Soraya Nadia McDonald, 09:46
• On Casting Sterling K. Brown:
  “A little diabolical, because she knew that he existed in the culture as this very, like, standup...loving man.”
  — Soraya Nadia McDonald, 13:58
• On the Film Getting Made:
  “The fact that this film got made is a miracle...with, like, an original black female idea on screen...”
  — Ba Parker, 16:47

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• (03:13) – Introduction to adaptation from stage to screen, discussion of performances
• (05:11) – Kara Young’s performance and character analysis
• (06:27) – Aleshea Harris’s transition as playwright to filmmaker
• (09:31) – Black feminine rage and representation
• (13:27) – Complicity, and the roles of women in abuse dynamics
• (13:58) – Sterling K. Brown’s casting and its cultural implications
• (16:47/17:11) – Discussion on the film’s rarity and significance in today’s industry
• (19:48/20:48) – Narrative closure and discussion of the ambiguous ending

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Final Thoughts & Recommendations

• All three hosts/guests strongly recommend the film for its inventiveness, emotional honesty, bold visuals, and cultural relevance.
• The episode closes with a call for more Black playwrights to make the leap to filmmaking, highlighting the richness and freshness they bring.

  “But more black playwrights become filmmakers. Yes, that’s my wish.”
  — Ba Parker, 21:57 “Your conversations would be just so much more enriched.”
  — Soraya Nadia McDonald, 22:02

• It’s a film that belongs in the same conversation as The Color Purple, Thelma & Louise, and other enduring classics about trauma, sisterhood, and survival for Black women.

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Overall Tone: Enthusiastic, insightful, deeply engaged, celebratory of both the film and its cultural moment, while remaining clear-eyed about its industry and social context.

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Summary prepared as a detailed guide for listeners and non-listeners alike, distilling the core of this must-hear episode about a must-see movie.

Transcript

[Sponsor/Announcer]

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[Aisha Harris]

If you took the affecting themes of sisterhood in the Color Purple and mashed them up with the exciting road trip revenge narrative of Thelma and Louise, you might get something like Is God? Is its connection movie about twin sisters who set out to kill their abusive dad, who's played by Sterling K. Brown. The performances are great and you'll recognize a few familiar faces including Janelle Monae and Vivica A. Fox. And I think it marks a promising feature debut for an acclaimed playwright. I'm Aisha Harris and today we're talking about Is God is on Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr.

[Sponsor/Announcer]

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This message comes from BetterHelp. May is mental Health Awareness Month, a reminder that you don't have to do this life alone. From loneliness to anxiety to financial stress, right now people everywhere are struggling. But having a licensed therapist with you by video phone or chat can make a difference. And BetterHelp makes it easy. Sign up now and get 10% [e-mail] NPR that's betterhelp.com NPR Joining me today is Ba Parker.

[Aisha Harris]

She's one of the hosts of NPR's Code Switch podcast. Hello Parker. Hello.

[Ba Parker]

Thanks for having me.

[Aisha Harris]

Great to have you. And also with us is Soraya Nadia McDonald. She's a culture critic, journalist and the senior criticism editor for the Rumpus. Hello Soraya.

[Ba Parker]

Hello.

[Aisha Harris]

I am so very excited to talk about this movie with both of you because there is a lot to chew on. Here is got is stars Kara Young and Mallory Johnson as twins Racine and Anaya. As kids, they experienced a traumatic event that left them with permanent severe burn scars across their bodies. This is at the hands of their father, man. He's played by Sterling K. Brown. Years later, they receive word that their long lost mother, Ruby, is on her deathbed. She's played by Vivica A. Fox. Ruby gives them a task. Kill their dad as payback for the abuse and pain he inflicted upon them and her. So, a warning. We're going to be talking about domestic violence in this episode. The twins set out to find their father, though first they have to go through many of the people he's dealt with in the years since Racine and Anaia last saw him. Alicia Harris directed Is God Is. Which she's adapted for the screen from her Off Broadway play. It's in theaters now and is an Amazon original film. So we should note Amazon supports NPR and pays to distribute some of our content. Now, Parker, I'm gonna start with you. I know you've not seen the play, but you've read the play.

[Ba Parker]

Yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

How do we feel about this adaptation?

[Ba Parker]

I loved it. I love that you compare it with, like, the Color Purple and Thelma and Louise. And oddly enough, while watching the movie, this is an odd comp. Like Scott Pilgrim.

[Aisha Harris]

Oh, yeah, I can see that, actually.

[Ba Parker]

I'm like, you have to get through these, like, the layers of their father's past to get to him.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

That's not where I thought you were going. No, that's great.

[Aisha Harris]

No, I know, but it works. I think it works.

[Ba Parker]

It was like, we give you this mission in order to get to. I don't know. That's what I. Part of me thinking about that. But, yeah, I loved it. I read it around Halloween. I was given, like, this list of spooky black plays to read. God is was on the list, and I went like, oh, wait, this is gonna be a movie. This is great. Because I have no idea how this is gonna get filmed. And I just. If you read the play, you're like, I don't even know how this was on a stage. So the fact that it is on my screen and it's like. It's like it pops. There's all this, like, bright music, the performances, like Kara Young, who I am a huge fan of. I feel like I've seen her in, like, four things in the past two years. I think I saw her in, like, Probably Victorious, Purpose, Gr Playground, Injuries, Proof. I gotta take it. I'm gonna see her in Proof.

[Aisha Harris]

She's big on Broadway. Yes, yes.

[Ba Parker]

I also think she's in like. I love boosters.

[Aisha Harris]

I love boosters. She is.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Kara is booked and busy.

[Ba Parker]

She's booked and busy. She's so dynamic and so captivating, like from her voice and the way that she comes across. Cause she is supposed to be, I think she's described as like the rough one.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes. She's very scrappy.

[Ba Parker]

She's scrappy.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Scrappy.

[Ba Parker]

And she's able to show the multitudes that she has.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

I feel like if you're putting together like a Racine action figure, like she comes with her own little tub of Vaseline.

[Ba Parker]

Vaseline. And crop tops.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes.

[Ba Parker]

Long braids.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes, yes. And no earrings. She's just going to have to take them off anyway. Soraya, how did you feel about this adaptation?

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

I loved it so much for so many reasons. I mean, I absolutely just love the work of Alicia Harris, both as it's presented on the stage, but also as a writer. She's a very, like, accomplished and respected off Broadway playwright here in New York. It's really interesting, I think, how Alicia works because you can see how fluidly she adapts between forms.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

She moves between them, I think, with a lot of ease that sometimes, like, escapes playwrights, especially when they are moving from working on stage work to the screen. Like TV is a really nice way to break into that and kind of bridge those two skill sets and see where they work and where they don't. I think moving from plays to cinema, sometimes that can be more of a challenge, especially if you're a director and you can get a little bit lost and kind of end up with like a series of sort of uninteresting shots where the camera doesn't really move a whole lot.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

You know, you're speaking more in the language of a play than you are with theater. Even as much as I adore George C. Wolfe as a theater director, I think some of his films kind of suffer from that. But you're able to sort of hide it a little bit because his adaptation of August Wilson. Right. Like very sort of like serious award

[Aisha Harris]

winning black Blaze that also tend to be set in very limited spaces. Right. Like with August Wilson plays, you're not often moving.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Right.

[Aisha Harris]

There are rooms, there are houses, there are spaces. But it's not like you're moving too much. Whereas here, this is a play that travels.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Yeah. She takes advantage, I think, of the sprawl.

[Aisha Harris]

Right?

[Sponsor/Announcer]

Yeah.

[Ba Parker]

The country sprawl.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

It's a road trip story. They're moving in all These different places across the South. When I interviewed Alicia for American Theater magazine about translating this story, she talked about being inspired by O Brother, wear out thou.

[Aisha Harris]

That too. Yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

As an adaptation of the Odyssey, one of the films that, like, I just couldn't wait to say, like, I was like, oh, my God. I was like, finally, somebody's, like, taking shots at Quentin Tarantino. There are frustrations that I have with, say, Kill Bill or Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that I feel like she gets to create some on screen justice in some ways. But the thing is, like, is God is even as a play, it was always described as, like, this Afropunk spaghetti Western. She's extremely dynamic, much like Racine.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ba Parker]

It's just such a confident debut. I feel like it's just been, like, percolating inside of her, in her brain for so long that when she finally got the opportunity, like, she hit the ground running.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah.

[Ba Parker]

And contemporary in that regard of, like, the playwright to filmmaker. Like, in that respect, I think probably be more like a Martin McDonough.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Oh, yeah.

[Ba Parker]

Of just, like, being able to translate the work to the screen. I think the fun thing about is God is, is that it's kind of also still embraces the fact that it was a play.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Yes.

[Ba Parker]

If you've read the play on the page, some of those pages actually are projected onto the screen in the movie as dialogue and, like, captions across the screen, which is so clever and, like, such an interesting take on crossing both worlds together. I was like, oh, she's still being true to herself in this fun and dynamic way. And I just. Oh, it's just like. It's so good and so rightfully angry.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ba Parker]

In a way that I feel like black feminine rage is something that is not always showcased in media or respected or respected or, like, supported.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Because people are afraid of us.

[Ba Parker]

Yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Because they know we have a lot to be angry about.

[Ba Parker]

And if you said that to racist, you'd be like, yeah, you should be scared of me. Like, you should be afraid.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah. I mean, I haven't read the play. I haven't seen the play either, so I was coming at this completely fresh. But those moments that you mentioned, Parker, about the dialogue appearing on screen, that is actually coming out of the fact that one of the things I love about this movie is the way Harris is really dialing into this relationship between these two sisters and how they are bonded not just by their trauma, but also by just growing up together and having to lean on one another. And those moments of the dialogue they're so intertwined, they're so simpatico that they can communicate telepathically, like they don't have to speak. And I love those little touches. I love the way that when we get moments where we're seeing flashbacks, flashbacks can be so hard to do. But like, hearing someone tell a story and seeing those flashbacks, she kind of goes in and out in the way plays can sometimes do, where it's like you're seeing the action happen. But then Vivica Fox's character, Ruby, is telling the story about what exactly happened because the girls don't actually fully remember exactly how they got their scars. So she's reminding them and telling them. And while she's doing that, every once in a while, you'll see Vivica a Fox, and she looked directly at the screen and she'll mouth the words. Like, I love those little touches of slipping in and out of both theatrical and cinematic language. Very stylish, very stylish. I also just like, I happen to see this the day after there was a killing in Shreveport, Louisiana, where a man, police said his name is Shemar Elkins, he killed seven of his children and his nephew. This was obviously a domestic violence dispute. And then just days before that, we had gotten news that Justin Fairfax, the ex lieutenant governor of Virginia, who police said killed his estranged wife, Dr. Serena Fairfax, and then himself. So those were things were top of mind for me while I was sitting here watching this movie. And they really resonated with me because that's the thing, right? It's with these movies, I mentioned Thelma and Louise, I mentioned the Color Purple. And part of the reason why I remember them is because they're great movies. Like, they are very well done, and they capture feminine rage and sisterhood and all those things in a really beautiful way. But also they stand the test of time because they're still relevant and just like, subject matter, topic wise. And the fact that, like, this movie could come out just around the time that this is happening and there will inevitably be more examples of this because this is just the way the world works. I think that it's the type of movie that is going to be held up and should be held up with those other films we've mentioned because it does such a good job, as you said, Parker, of, like, capturing rage. And I disagree slightly because I do think the media has no problem presenting black female rage. But it's often in service of, like, supporting these ideas about black femininity as, like, being animalistic, as being irrational. Irrational and this is a movie where these women have every right to be angry. And I'm curious what you think about. We haven't actually gotten into sort of, like, what happens after they get this summons from their mother, this mission, this, like, wizard of Oz, like, bring me the broom, you know, like, all that stuff. What I found so fascinating is that it's not just about them seeking revenge, but it's also about the ways people, not just men, but women, sort of support these men and offer cover.

[Ba Parker]

Complicit.

[Aisha Harris]

Complicit.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Especially when it redounds to their own comfort.

[Ba Parker]

Yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Which is like, that's Janelle Monae's character in a nutshell. Right.

[Aisha Harris]

She's playing his current wife. Man. Played by Sterling K. Brown. And she's playing his current wife, and she's the one who's gotten, quote, unquote, the best deal because she's in this sort of beautiful mansion that looks like it could have been in, like, a music video or something. It's like one of those types of things.

[Ba Parker]

But she's still living with a monster, obviously.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes.

[Ba Parker]

Yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

I mean, what do we make of that? I loved it. But, like, I'm curious how you all responded to it.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

I have so much to say. Like, Alicia knows that. That there are these films that exist in the culture that to the extent that there's still some semblance of monoculture that we experienced, like, growing up in the 90s. And Alicia is also millennial. She's 44. That sort of iconography of the Color Purple, of Kill Bill, of these films that garnered, like, broad audiences and then discussion. She's playing with those. One of the things that she told me about casting Sterling was that it was a little diabolical because she knew that he existed in the culture as this very, like, standup, hyper, competent, loving man.

[Ba Parker]

So smart. So smart to cast him.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

But, yeah, after I saw it, it made me go back and look up responses, particularly responses from black men to the Color Purple. Not the most recent version.

[Aisha Harris]

Right, Right.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Where you have Spike Lee. He's mad. You know, he thinks that the fact that, like, Mr. Has been rendered on screen is just completely unfair. And he's not alone in this. Like, this is echoed by Ishmael Reid. Even though the thing that sits at, I think, the heart of the Color Purple and that has contributed to its endurance is that it is so clearly about this bond of sisterhood. Right. Like, right down to this clip of Celie and Nettie playing Patty Cake with each other. And that is also, you know, when you see these two little girls at the beginning of Is Got is with their little plaits and their Easter dresses

[Aisha Harris]

and the black and white. Yeah, yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

You cannot help but think of the Color Purple. Like, I'm very curious, particularly because I feel like I'm seeing more conversations on social media, in part driven by these real life examples of intimate partner violence that are occurring in ostensibly straight relationships that men are exacting on black women. In terms of speaking candidly about the violence that black women experience, we have the highest rates of intimate partner violence in the United States, aside from indigenous women. And what there is to be done about that, about either sort of just suffering silently or when we do sort of process that suffering that it has to be done with this great deal of sort of quiet and dignity and being very protective and managing, you know, the feelings of usually men who don't necessarily like having these truths not even just be presented on a big screen, but that feeling of being exposed, of having this dirty laundry be aired.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah, yeah.

[Ba Parker]

For me, the fact that this film got made is a miracle. Yes. We're currently in a film drought when it comes to, like, good cinema. The fact that we are here with, like, an original black female idea on screen that she took full advantage of the resources she got.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Oh, yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

And in theaters. And it's in theaters too.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

A real theatrical release.

[Ba Parker]

And made such a bombastic film that hearkens to, like the Color Purple, that hearkens to black cinema, that, like Eaves

[Aisha Harris]

Bayou even a little bit.

[Ba Parker]

But the 90s a Colin down to

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

the wardrobe, right to the Tommy Hilfiger and the crop tops and the baggy

[Ba Parker]

pants, their outfits, the blonde box braids.

[Aisha Harris]

So good.

[Ba Parker]

So good. Seriously, the fact that this film got made and is getting the distribution that it has and that, like, something that we, the three of us, like, this is diabolical. The fact this isn't no shade, but, like, isn't like Tyler Perry Presents is God is. Is a miracle like that it's not being like shoved onto netfl. Be on Amazon later on.

[Aisha Harris]

Eventually.

[Ba Parker]

Yeah, eventually. But the fact that, like, I was so excited when I got into the theater because this should not feel like such a novelty.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

It should.

[Ba Parker]

And the fact that it was. And that it has something very strong to say about the way that black women are being treated, the way that's being treated by men, but also by the women who, like, uplift these men.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah. Erika Alexander, too, is really.

[Ba Parker]

Erika Alexander was so good.

[Aisha Harris]

Another woman like that.

[Ba Parker]

I love the idea of, like, dealing with like the sins of the father and having to kind of like be. Go through, like your father's demon to like, get to the man.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

I called her Pentecostal. Ms. Havisham.

[Ba Parker]

Oh, that scene is so fun and so silly. Yeah. I'm like, I don't think you're supposed to say all those words.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Yeah. There's so much humor and farce.

[Ba Parker]

It's so funny. So silly.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Yes.

[Ba Parker]

There's also like a lot of, like, pathos. I just think about, I don't know, like, having Sterling K. Brown as this evil character and the way that he's able to like, weaponize those, like, Randall Pearson tears where he's like. He's doing that. Like, this is us crying. Be like, no, you a demon. No, I am not. With your pain right now.

[Aisha Harris]

It's not even those tears, though. It's also like he has such a soft kind of high pitched voice, like higher pitch than usual. And that seems like a very deliberate choice.

[Ba Parker]

That's a great choice.

[Aisha Harris]

He's giving. Sort of like creepy, quiet sociopath.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

And I think it mostly works for me. I did find it a little bit hard at times to fully latch onto that, but this isn't the first time he's been able to do that. Like, he's played not to this extent as horrible, but not enough people saw Honk for Jesus, save your soul, but that's true love.

[Ba Parker]

That. Yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah. He's playing kind of again against what I think most people think of when they think of him, which is like, he's like a huckster. He's kind of not a demon, but he's definitely doing some shady stuff. I think he mostly works here. I would love to hear. Cause we were talking about this before we started taping, but I felt at least a little bit, there's so much buildup and so much good stuff that happens that like the last act felt a little like not a letdown, but not fully satisfying in the way that I had hoped it would be. And we don't need to go into details about that. But I did feel as though some things were left unsaid, unfinished in a way that I just couldn't. I was like, oh, man. I kind of wish, like we had had some sort of payoff. But at the same time, there is something sort of poetic about a revenge narrative that doesn't necessarily satisfy in a way that you would hope it would. I mean, I don't know. I struggle. I want it both ways.

[Ba Parker]

It was a little unsatisfactory. I understand I will say that the play actually is slightly different than the movie. It more works like a full circle moment and there is some kind of payoff. So maybe I now understand that choice, but I don't know. I. The play's ending better.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Yeah.

[Aisha Harris]

Yeah.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

There's an ambivalence with this one, but also a heartbreak that I think makes it that much more sort of like unsettling when you walk out, particularly because you've spent the majority of the movie just having these delicious kikis and really some brutish violence. I mean, rough and no more brutish than prison violence. Like literally the weapon of choice is a rock and a sock.

[Aisha Harris]

Yes, it's challenging.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

It's a little challenging.

[Aisha Harris]

Look, we've talked a lot. This is such a rich text. We didn't even get into the idea of beauty and femininity that this movie is conjuring and trying to interact with. Like oh my gosh, there's a lot. And we all loved it. We want everyone to go see it. That is what we will leave you all with.

[Ba Parker]

But more black playwrights become filmmakers. Yes, that's my also my wish.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Your conversations would be just so much more enriched.

[Aisha Harris]

Absolutely. Well, look, I always want to give grace to a first time filmmaker and I think we're all banging the drum really loudly for everyone to go see this movie. So absolutely do go see this movie. That brings us to the end of our show. Ba Parker, Sarai, Nadia McDonald, thanks so much for being here. This was so fun. So fun. And I hope people take your word and our word and go see this movie. Thank you.

[Soraya Nadia McDonald]

Thank you, thank you.

[Aisha Harris]

This episode is produced by Mike Katsif, Liz Metzger and Hafsa Fathoma and edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello. Kamin provides our theme music. And look, I'm gonna remind you again, signing up for Pop Culture Happy Hour plus is a great way to support our show and public radio. You get to let listen to all of our episodes sponsor free if you do. So go find out more at plus.npr.org happyaur or visit the link in our show notes. Thanks so much for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from npr. I'm Aisha Harris and we'll see you all next time.

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